Ricky Martinez, 9, a Murrieta boy with aplastic anemia, is happy and energetic as he recovers from an experimental
cord blood transplant
performed Thursday to treat his illness, his father and doctor said.

"Ricky did great," said Ricky's father, Oscar Martinez, in an email Thursday evening. "The transplant went really good. He says he feels good and his spirits are high. He already has an appetite."

On Friday, his mother, Cynthia Martinez, said he was feeling even better: "He's so energetic. He's been jumping around and singing. He's very playful."

The transplant, performed at Children's Hospital Orange County, is the first stage in a process that will take several months to unfold, as doctors monitor Ricky's blood levels daily to see if the transplanted cells can jump-start his immune system.

Ricky was diagnosed with aplastic anemia last August, after suffering unexplained bruises, rashes and nosebleeds. Since then, he has received weekly blood transfusions to treat the disease, in which the bone marrow ceases to produce blood cells.

Doctors said he would need a bone marrow transplant to treat the condition and restore his immune function. His family, along with
Cal State San Marcos students,
held bone marrow drives to encourage potential donors to register.

But as they searched for a perfect match, another option appeared: Doctors found his own umbilical cord blood, which his mother donated at birth.

Cord blood contains stem cells ---- undifferentiated cells that can spur production of healthy tissue to help treat various diseases. Doctors believe it could jump-start Ricky's bone marrow, allowing his body to resume normal blood production.

Ricky's hematologist and transplant physician, David Buchbinder, said doctors will know within a month whether the cord blood cells accomplished that.

"They just sort of know where to go, and they set up shop in the bone marrow and hopefully grow," he said. "Now we just hang out, and protect him to make sure he stays healthy, and doesn't run into infections, or complications of the medications we gave him to prepare for his transplant. So it's just a matter of being vigilant."

Last week, doctors prepped Ricky for the procedure by delivering strong doses of chemotherapy to wipe out his immune system and make way for the cord blood cells.

His mother said Ricky weathered the chemotherapy with few side effects, and passed the time waiting for the transplant by watching movies, playing video games, and checking Facebook and Twitter.

The effort that led to the transplant required complex orchestration of technical preparations, storage and treatment of the cord blood, and a precisely calibrated medication regimen, Buchbinder said.

"It's a really big team that makes this happen," he said. "It looks so simple, but there are many, many people working for Ricky."

By comparison, the transplant itself ---- which works much like a blood transfusion ---- was deceptively simple, he said.

For his mother, Cynthia, it was akin to a second birth for her son.

"It was such a special moment for us," she said. "Seeing the blood itself, and knowing that it was his own baby blood, that was such a touching moment for me, as a mom. It was a new beginning for Ricky, a new chapter in his life. We're just excited to see what God has planned for him in the future."